Of all of the folks to launch a heavy steel album in 2026, few folks in all probability thought William Shatner would. The extra you consider it, nevertheless, the extra possible it turns into. William Shatner wasn’t solely the legend who starred in Star Trek, he’s additionally the legend who boarded a Blue Origin flight to house on the age of ninety, so he’s probably not averse to going about his retirement just a little in a different way.
To not point out, he’s Canadian, and Canadians have a aptitude for attempting unconventional initiatives. Whether or not it’s Ryan Reynolds shopping for Wrexham FC in 2021, or Seth Rogen abruptly changing into an everyday on Netflix cooking exhibits, it appears there’s one thing within the Canadian water that encourages entertainers to step outdoors the anticipated.
Ought to we be shocked that Shatner is each a heavy steel fan and in addition utilizing heavy steel as a car for extra inventive exploration? No.
Heavy steel has lengthy been a key style of in style music, attracting all kinds of devoted and informal listeners. But it surely’s additionally been a style eager to transcend its personal borders. Take Avenged Sevenfold for example, who carried out a VR live performance again in 2024. Their set was carried out of their ‘Hail to the King’ surroundings, giving the viewers a complete new perspective to the band’s reside present with results and visuals that felt acceptable to the style. It wasn’t an interactive expertise, which may nicely be heavy steel’s subsequent innovation, particularly as different sectors incorporate interactive components into their reside digital exhibits: gamers can have interaction with sellers at a reside on line casino in Canada, in a position to bridge that digital divide and be social, skilled, and actual at residence and in a manufacturing studio.
Shatner, regardless of his space-tending ambitions, has opted for a much less technologically adventurous effort and has as an alternative centered on curating and creating an bold album when it comes to its personnel.
So What Is William Shatner Doing?
So let’s rewind just a little: what precisely is he doing? In accordance with William Shatner’s X put up, the heavy steel album in query will function 35 steel virtuosos, overlaying legends like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, alongside some unique tunes ‘solid in the identical cosmic fireplace’.
He insists it’s not a novelty album, however a real, occasion report constructed round huge guitars and cinematic preparations, and designed to unite a legion of steel’s most revered musicians beneath one imaginative and prescient. Sounds good, proper? Properly, we hope so…
Will it Sound Good?
Let’s not child ourselves, issues like this have occurred earlier than. Hugh Laurie has launched a blues album, Idris Elba has produced music and DJ’d. Even Christopher Lee launched a couple of heavy steel albums in his day. However when actors delve into the world of music, the result’s usually combined. Not for Christopher Lee – he may do no flawed. However for actors like Laurie and Elba, and even others like Scarlett Johansson and Lindsay Lohan, there have been whispers of ‘follow the day job’.
The hope right here is that, as a result of it’s not simply William Shatner, however an array of heavy steel musicians working to deliver this imaginative and prescient to life, there’s a superb likelihood that the music itself may really be half respectable.
Even when it isn’t, nevertheless, does it actually matter? We shouldn’t expect innovation and wonders, like when Seraphina Sanan united with Twista to create a mix of steel and rap, or when Coroner unleashed their first album in additional than 30 years again in October.
However as talked about earlier than, Shatner is a Canadian legend. There’s nothing stopping him from cashing in his chips and seeing out his retirement quietly, however he’s selected the other. He’s chosen a headbanging various that proves how a lot journey he nonetheless has left in his soul, and exhibits a willingness to defy expectations that may solely be applauded.
Certainly, this may very well be the worst album on this planet, and we’d in all probability nonetheless be headbanging away, in awe at the truth that a 94-year-old is answerable for it.
To place it bluntly, Shatner is proving how outdated age doesn’t must imply slowing down or taking part in it protected. He’s going boldly the place no 94-year-old has gone earlier than, and for that, all we will say is proceed.
